LIGHTING Travis Willard
[ WM ] Tell us about how you got started in the lighting side of church ?
[ Travis Willard ] My passion for lighting started in 2014 when I landed my first fulltime TD position at a church in my area . Until then , I had primarily dwelled only in the audio world . At first , I was learning simply to adapt and overcome in my new position , but as I got deeper into lighting , learning techniques , learning to program , and seeing the contribution the lighting made to the worship service , I saw it was a form of artistry and I fell in love . Using lighting to enhance the dynamics of music , draw people into the beauty of singing to our Savior , and create environments that are distraction free but also engaging is a wonderful challenge that I look forward to weekly .
[ WM ] Who were your main lighting mentors ?
[ Travis ] A friend and major mentor of mine when it came to lighting was a man by the name of Bill Reynolds who was a volunteer lighting director and Electrician at my first fulltime church . He started me on my lighting path . He taught me a lot ; from programming to changing bulbs to lighting techniques and theory . I really owe my passion and any skill I have today to him taking lots of time and having lots of patience with me . Another friend and colleague that I ’ m constantly reaching out to for ideas and solutions to problems is a local guy named Perry Stone . He ’ s several years younger than me but a brilliant lighting director and really my go-to person when planning new projects or booking larger scale events .
[ WM ] Have you attended training conferences ? If so , tell us about them .
[ Travis ] I ’ ve attended Infocomm in Orlando which was great for seeing the “ latest and greatest ” toys ! They also have demos and training sessions that are super beneficial and informative . I ’ m taking my staff of four to the
Experience Conference this year which is a worship / tech conference in Orlando . It was highly recommended to me by another TD friend of mine as a place to learn and a place to retreat and recharge while we participate in worship services without having to work them .
[ WM ] Do you train other members on your tech teams ? What is your approach to that ? How is your team structured with volunteer and paid staff ?
[ Travis ] Training and volunteer development is crucial to a church our size . We have two full-time and three part-time people in our department , but we have 12-15 positions filled primarily by volunteers between two campuses that accomplish Sunday services . We rely heavily on volunteers . We ’ ve implemented the same training technique for all our tech positions , and we find it works well . 1 . I do . You watch . 2 . I do . You help . 3 . You do . I help . 4 . You do . I watch . 5 . You do . I cheer .
[ WM ] Do you do any lighting work outside of the church ?
[ Travis ] Yes ! All the time . Kid ’ s and Youth camps , dnow ’ s , conferences , etc .
Some interesting work I ’ ve done recently is